Over 6,000 phone numbers linked to scams as 50% traced to TikTok — TrustGH

TrustGH, a scam verification and reporting platform, has identified more than 6,000 telephone numbers associated with suspected fraudulent activity through community reports and open-source intelligence (OSINT) investigations.

The platform said the findings, compiled by its team of certified cybersecurity professionals, point to an evolving digital fraud landscape in Ghana, with threat actors increasingly using social media platforms, messaging applications, online business directories, telecommunications channels and fraudulent websites to target individuals and businesses.

According to TrustGH, approximately 50% of the reported scam numbers are linked to TikTok, making the platform the largest identified source of reported scam activity in its database.

SMS and WhatsApp also account for a significant proportion of reported cases, while other scam indicators have been traced to Facebook, Google Business Profiles, telephone calls and fake websites.

Social engineering drives scams
TrustGH said many of the schemes identified through its investigations rely heavily on social engineering rather than sophisticated technical exploitation.

The platform explained that threat actors often impersonate trusted individuals or organisations to establish credibility before manipulating victims into transferring money or disclosing sensitive information.

Fraudsters may pose as bank officials, government representatives, company executives, police officers, financial agents, recruitment officers or legitimate business owners.

Once trust has been established, victims may be pressured to make payments, disclose one-time passwords (OTPs), provide Mobile Money credentials or reveal other sensitive information.

TrustGH said these tactics can result in financial losses or account compromise without the attacker necessarily gaining direct technical access to the victim’s device.

Mobile Money remains primary target
More than 90% of the reported scam cases analysed by TrustGH involved attempts to obtain Mobile Money payments or gain unauthorised access to victims’ Mobile Money accounts.

The platform identified several recurring categories of threats, including Mobile Money fraud, financial impersonation, fake online sellers, fraudulent Google Business Profiles, fake recruitment schemes, prize and lottery scams, social media fraud, suspicious callers and phishing-related account takeover attempts.

In phishing and account takeover schemes, threat actors attempt to obtain authentication credentials, OTPs, passwords or other information that could facilitate unauthorised access to victims’ accounts.

TrustGH said the high proportion of Mobile Money-related incidents was a significant cybersecurity concern given the widespread use of mobile financial services in Ghana.

Fake business profiles exploited
The platform also identified a growing pattern involving the abuse of legitimate business identities.

According to TrustGH, threat actors create fraudulent social media accounts, advertisements and Google Business Profiles that closely imitate genuine companies.

These fraudulent profiles may replicate legitimate business names, logos, locations and other publicly available information to create an appearance of authenticity.

TikTok emerges as major source of scam indicators

TrustGH said the finding that approximately half of the reported numbers were associated with TikTok highlighted the increasing role of social media in the fraud ecosystem.

Threat actors can use social platforms to establish fraudulent identities, advertise fake products or services and reach large numbers of potential victims.

Communication may subsequently move to WhatsApp, SMS or telephone calls, where social-engineering techniques are used to complete the fraud.

The platform said this creates a multi-channel attack chain in which several platforms may be used at different stages of the same scam.

Collaboration with cybersecurity, police authorities

TrustGH said it is a licensed platform that works closely with the Cybersecurity Authority and the Cyber Crime Unit of the Ghana Police Service to combat scam activity and support investigations involving reported numbers.

The platform has urged members of the public to verify and report suspicious numbers through TrustGH.com.